


Not by Blood

by Niki



Category: NCIS
Genre: Brief Mention of Children in Distress, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Ice Cream, Kid Fic, M/M, Trope Bingo Round 6, chosen families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-11 14:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5629447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niki/pseuds/Niki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case reveals a new side of Tony to the team – but it affects no one as much as Gibbs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trope: AU: Other 
> 
> I've had to fudge the timeline a bit, and change a past relationship of Tony's.
> 
> This also seems to happen in an alternate universe where the cases are solved from 9 to 5, and Ari successfully pursued a career as an underwear model.
> 
> Thank you to Neith, as always, for beta and hand-holding. I might still not have posted this if not for her.

If there was one thing you could count on, it was Tony DiNozzo not getting along with kids. Gibbs knew he should have probably rather taken Kate or even McGee with him to the school, they wouldn't get hives from the proximity to the children. But Gibbs counted on DiNozzo getting more out of the teachers, at least if they were female. 

So to say that the sight of DiNozzo dropping to his knees to hug an excitedly shouting girl was surprising was an understatement of the year. And the tears shining in his eyes as he hugged the little brunette – who had to be around eight – in his arms made Gibbs regret coming to an all-girl private school himself.

The teacher from whose group the little girl had escaped walked towards them, and the principal with whom Gibbs and DiNozzo had been talking with conferred with her before allowing “Michelle” a few minutes before joining the rest of her class. Gibbs nodded at Tony to give his permission to the younger man to sit down on a nearby bench with the girl he was now carrying because she showed no signs of removing her arms from around his neck. 

Gibbs couldn't hear their discussion, as he continued his conversation with the principal about their missing students, but he could see Tony giving the girl his card, with a few words on it – he assumed it was for her parents. 

As Gibbs wrapped up his questioning, the girl's teacher came to call for Michelle, and Tony looked after her retreating form in a way Gibbs could only describe as “dejectedly.”

They walked to their car in silence. Gibbs kept shooting looks at the younger man, worried he'd walk into walls, dazed as he looked. They got in but Gibbs didn't start the car, instead of waiting for the inevitable burst of words. DiNozzo would have to talk, but whether it would be about Michelle, the case, or random movies, Gibbs couldn't predict. 

“Two years...” Tony said, sounding as dazed as he looked. 

Michelle it was, then. 

“I haven't seen her in two years. I thought she'd have forgotten me. Kids do, right?” He swallowed and closed his eyes. “You know I don't get along with kids. I never know how to talk to them, and they don't like me. But Chellie... Okay, there may have been some illicit Disney movie watching on school mornings to win her over but she just... She was just so... And we... For two years, I was there, helping to get her ready for school, making snacks, reading bedtime stories, watching cartoons, kissing her bumps and cuts, I was... I was like her dad, like she belonged to me too, you know? And then, even when the relationship was dying, we both knew it wasn't going anywhere, and it's such a cliché to stay for the kids, right? Especially since she wasn't even my kid, but that last six months? I stayed for her, and then I couldn't, we couldn't, and I was moving here and... And I wasn't even allowed to see her anymore. I guess it would have been too weird, too hard for Chellie, but I...”

He was pressing his eyes with his fingers now, obviously trying to keep the tears in. “I'm sorry. I know, I know, there's a rule but damn it, it's not like she's my daughter or something, but... I should be over this, I am, I was, but now... I didn't even know they'd moved to D.C.”

Gibbs kept his eyes on the view from the windscreen.

“You lost a child, DiNozzo,” he said, quietly. “No matter if you were her father for eight years or two, you lost a child. There's no shame in mourning that.”

He could feel his own eyes tearing up, and held on to the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. He didn't know what he'd do or say if he turned to look at Tony.

“I had a daughter,” he found himself saying, and then had to go on, knowing the other man had to be staring at him now. “She and her mother were killed when she was eight.”

“God, Gibbs... I'm sorry.” Tony sounded horrified, and still more than a little choked.

Gibbs shook his head, that wasn't why he'd told him. “Losing a child is losing a child,” he explained. “No one expects you to 'be over it'. You don't 'get over' being a parent. Even if her mother doesn't see you that way, she obviously does.”

Tony didn't say anything more, and Gibbs started the car, taking the long way back to the Navy Yard.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs never asked if Tony heard back from the girl or her parents (mother?) and he really didn't think it was his place to ask. Tony worked as diligently as ever, teased McGee and Kate, flirted with anything female that moved, but maybe there was extra something in his efforts to find the kidnappers who had taken Michelle's schoolmates – four girls in total by now, two of them daughters of naval officers (which is how they came to the case) and two of rich business families. 

They were stuck, waiting for the kidnappers to give more instructions now that they seemed to know the authorities had been informed. All the girls had been kidnapped off the school grounds but it couldn't be a coincidence that they all went to the same school. 

Everyone looked up when Tony's phone rang but from his puzzled expression it was not case-related. 

“Okay, bring him up,” he said, after listening to a moment, then got up to wait for his visitor with a worried frown. 

“What's going on?” Kate asked when she noticed Gibbs wasn't going to. 

“I don't know,” Tony muttered, and then froze, when the elevator stopped at their floor and two men exited – a uniformed guard and a dark man in a crumpled suit. 

“Paul?”

“They took her!” the other man said without as much as a hello.

“Chellie?”

“Yes, I got home today and... there was a note, on the kitchen table and I didn't know... I heard about the others, and you'd given her your card... I'm sorry I didn't call, I'm sorry I didn't let her call, I just didn't know what to do!”

“Paul, breathe, there was a note?”

The man took a crumpled paper from his pocket and Kate reached for it with gloved hands.

“They took my little girl,” Paul whispered, and Gibbs was beyond surprise now, looking quietly as Tony took the man in his arms and let him cry. 

After he had calmed down a bit, Tony sat the man on his desk chair and sat on the desk himself. 

“What does the note say?” he asked, from this Paul or Kate, Gibbs didn't know, but it was Kate who answered.

“It's similar to the others. But it doesn't say anything about contacting the police this time, they have to know we're on the case.”

“Ransom? Deadline?”

“Only a few hundred thousand...” Kate started, and Paul laughed without humour.

“Only. Where the hell am I going to get that in three days?”

Tony put his hand on the other man's shoulder, and he leaned into it, just a little.

“Paul... I'm going to get our girl back, okay? We're going to get her back.”

Then they were hugging again, and Paul was clutching Tony's jacket in a desperate grip. 

“I'm sorry I took her away from you.”

“It's okay... well, no, it isn't, it never was, but what's important now is getting her back, okay? We're going to get her back.”

\- - -

“Rule eight,” Gibbs said quietly when he found himself alone with Tony in the elevator that evening.

“Huh?”

“I shouldn't have just assumed your relationship had been with her mother.”

“I didn't correct you.”

“You wouldn't. But it makes no difference, you do know that?”

Tony met his eyes and he held the gaze letting nothing but acceptance – detached acceptance – show on his gaze. It must have worked, because the younger man just nodded.

“I do now.”


	3. Chapter 3

“What I don't get is why they took Chellie,” Tony said, looking at the screen where the girls' pictures and info were side by side. “Paul's not that rich, they aren't even asking as much from him as the others. He isn't in a position to give out any useful information about the Navy, he isn't... he isn't anything special, and Chel's mother isn't in the picture.”

He was thinking aloud, pacing and talking, and Gibbs wasn't about to silence him. More often than not Tony's stream of consciousness (with or without movie references) gave them a new direction to go to, even if it didn't end up anywhere useful.

“According to her dad, she isn't friends with any of the others, she hasn't even visited their homes except for Linda Kensington's for her massive birthday party last year. The only outstanding feature is... me.” Tony came to a halt and he turned his shocked gaze on Gibbs.

“She is the only girl with a parental figure in the law enforcement. Boss... it's my fault. I put her in danger.”

“No, you didn't. They did. But if you're right, and you are the reason she was taken...”

“...it means it's an inside job,” Tony finished. “My name's not linked to her in any way, except in school gossip.”

“But we ran background checks on all the staff,” Kate said.

“They don't _always_ have handy previous record,” Tony pointed out, already moving towards the files on everyone who worked or had worked in the school in the past. 

“It's likely not a disgruntled ex-employee, then,” McGee said, clicking on his computer. “They wouldn't keep in touch to learn about new developments.”

“Check the bank records again,” Gibbs ordered. “Anyone in debt, or recently in debt, you know the drill. Start with the people who were present when you and Michelle talked.”

\- - -

The bank records did point towards a teacher with expensive tastes even if no outright debts, and following her led them to a house far from her own home. A suspiciously large food delivery connected to some surveillance pictures showing a man _with_ handy previous record in kidnapping gave them a search warrant. 

“He's a career criminal without a violent record,” Gibbs said calmly when Tony argued against direct approach. 

“But we don't know who else is involved! We can't risk the girls!”

“DiNozzo.”

“I know, I know, I know, I am too emotionally involved. But that's my girl in there.”

“And you don't want to storm in and kick the door down to get to her?”

“Of course I do. But we don't know anything about what we are facing. I say nab the teacher and make her tell us.”

“And what if they find out? And decide to move the hostages?”

“It's my fault she's there, if something happens to her...”

“It is not your fault. DiNozzo... Tony. Look at me. It's not your fault, okay?” 

“Yeah, okay.”

“Grab your vest, we're going in.”

\- - -

Kate had been surprised by all the revelations about Tony the case had brought, but the disappearance of the girl had prevented all the gay jokes she was dying to use on Tony. The panic-resembling worry on the man's face made her reconsider everything she knew about him. Not his sexual preferences as such, but the obvious love he was presenting was something she hadn't even thought him capable of. 

What was the rule? About never taking anything for granted? Maybe she really should embroider them on a dish towel or something. But it just went to show how much she still had to learn about reading people. She hadn't seen this coming. She hadn't thought Tony mature enough to know how to love a child, or to let anyone in to that level. The bisexuality wasn't really a surprise if one considered his incessant flirting as a cover or overcompensation for something. Hell, maybe he was gay and just very good at hiding. 

But she hadn't really understood the level of his bond with the little girl either, not until they stormed the house and found the kidnapped children. On of them, a girl with curly brown hair, dashed to Tony, who instantly went to his knees, hugging the girl to her while raining kisses all over her face.

“I've got you, babygirl, I'm here, daddy's here, you're safe. You're safe, princess, I've got you.” His litany went on as she cried and it took Kate a while to make out what she was saying, repeating over and over again. 

“I knew you'd come, I knew you'd come, I knew you'd come, I knew you'd come, I knew you'd come...”

The trust that showed made Kate blink back tears, suddenly. So Michelle was just a kid, and of course Kate knew she herself could trust Tony to have her back at work, in theory, but... but if he had been able to give that little girl something so powerful, so constant, that after two years of not seeing him she still trusted him to always save her...

“I always will, sweetheart.” 

...then maybe Kate would have to believe it as well. 

She left them to their reunion and helped the other girls out of the room, while McGee and Gibbs secured the house.

\- - -

Gibbs knew he shouldn't be there. This was private, he was an outsider, not a part of the family, but he couldn't tear his eyes off Tony holding his daughter. She was laughing now, her fear momentarily forgotten though Gibbs knew there had to be nightmares in her future, maybe therapy. Her dads would take care of it. 

There was no question of it now, even though Gibbs prided himself for seeing it from the first. Tony was a parent, and even Paul Waverly seemed to accept it now, as he merely pulled them both into a hug when he arrived at, not even trying to extract Michelle from Tony's arms. The three looked like a family, and Gibbs knew he should leave.

“You should go home with dad,” Tony was saying. “You need shower and food and some cuddles by the TV. You still do that, right?”

“Of course! But dad doesn't... we watch cartoons.”

“And you're too old for cartoons?” Tony suggested, tickling her until she screamed with laughter. 

“I want to watch real grown-up movies like with you!” 

“What, Paul! Are you depriving my princess of real movies?” his voice was light, but Gibbs could here real issues underneath. 

“That was always your thing, Tone, I wasn't sure... I don't know what would be safe for her to see. I tried reading the content notes on imdb and that just convinced me I should never show her anything.”

“That's it. Movie times it is.” Tony seemed to notice Gibbs then but only smiled at him, his happiness and relief contagious. “But first I need to go write my report.”

He let Michelle jump down. Paul Waverly walked towards the door and saw Gibbs, pausing to shake his hand, then turning to look at the two. 

“But you're coming later?” she was asking, and now the hesitancy of the two years' absence was there in her voice. 

Tony kissed his palm and offered it to her, and she did the same with hers, grinning all the while. But when they shook hands, they both had a very solemn expression. Paul saw Gibbs looking and shrugged, smiling. 

“She was six and had just read something or seen a movie where some people sealed a deal by spitting on their palms and she kept wanting to do that. I was horrified but then Tony came up with that. Much better suited for our princess. He was always so great with her... and I took his daughter from him, didn't I?”

There was sadness and regret in his voice, as there damn well should be, and Gibbs had no reason to be particularly nice to him. 

“Yep, you did.”

“I thought it would be too difficult for her to understand, and...”

“I'm not the one you should be explaining this to.”

“No, I know. I... reports, right?”

“Tony,” Gibbs said a little louder. “You can come write your report tomorrow.”

“Really?” There was such hope in his voice Gibbs wouldn't regret his softness, and he would defend his ruling to the director if it came to that. 

“Go be with your family,” he said, and allowed himself a small smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything went back to normal after the case. The only differences were in Tony and how people treated him – and how he treated others. 

There was a photo of Michelle on his desk now, but he didn't make a big production out of it. Still, women seemed to flock to coo over her curls or her smile, or just for the gossip about who she was. Somehow having acquired a daughter made Tony even more desirable to women.

He still flirted, but his tone was softer now, less blatant. There was more respect in his dealings with the women, now, as if having Michelle back in his life made him think of women as humans more often. Not that he had been that bad, really, Gibbs thought, but Kate remarked on the change often. 

Kate seemed to be viewing Tony differently as well. She, too, was softer. They still bickered, there was still a prank war going on, but something had obviously shifted. At least on Kate's part. Maybe she just had a clearer idea of what Tony was really like now, Gibbs thought, knowing the profiler had been fooled by Tony's very well developed public mask before. 

Tony seemed happier, somehow calmer, more centered, as well. Gibbs didn't like to say he acted more maturely, but... he acted more like a grown up, more often. He'd always had the skills and the instincts, he just seemed less likely to cover them up now to play the fool. 

Gibbs had nothing against these changes. What worried him was more selfish: he couldn't help but wonder if having Michelle back in Tony's life would lead into having Paul back in his life as well. 

Tony was bisexual. Tony had had a serious, long-term relationship with a man. Tony had had a _family_ with a man. So the relationship had failed once before but... Well, time would tell. And it wasn't like Gibbs was in a position to object to any decisions Tony made about his private life, nor did he want to be.

And if he repeated that enough times, maybe he'd believe it, too. 

\- - -

Tony showed up in Gibbs' basement one Sunday evening, stressed and lost.

“I'm so scared,” he admitted, and Gibbs poured him a jar full of his drink of the evening, and the younger man emptied it with barely a grimace on the strong taste of the warm liquor. 

“I have no official place in her life. I'm the second emergency contact for her in the school info, but I have no authority to make any decisions about her care even if something happens. Paul lets her visit on my free weekends, maybe a movie during the week if we haven't got a case. But... it's not like we're divorced, it's not like I have visitation rights, so if he finds someone else... He cut me off from her life once before because he felt it would have been too confusing for her. What about when he starts a new relationship? When there's another parental figure in her life, maybe living with them? Will he think it too confusing for her then, too? Will I just be surplus to requirements? It's not like she'd need two pseudo-dads. What the hell do I do if he takes her away again?”

“Don't borrow trouble,” Gibbs said when he finished. 

“But I...”

“You have her now. Make the most of it.”

They hadn't referred to his revelation after their discussion in the car. Gibbs didn't mind Tony knowing, somehow, but no way in hell was he going to talk about it. And Tony respected that, not even using the knowledge as a virtual pawn in his one-upmanship with the other team members, sort of “I know something you don't know.” No guarded looks at Gibbs when he talked about his weekends with Michelle at work, at least as far as Gibbs could tell.

This was the first time Gibbs allowed even a hint of the fact enter the discussion, and even this was mostly non-verbal. He just looked at Tony, as a father at another father, trying to say everything that needed to be said with his gaze. 

_You can lose her at any moment for any reason. Make the time you have with her count._

Tony nodded, a solemn look on his face, and Gibbs turned abruptly to his work, grabbing the sanding block as a clear signal that the moment was over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating! RL things like weddings and movies and hiding in bed where it's warm happened.
> 
> This was supposed to be two chapters but I didn't want to do another super short update in a row.

One Friday before a free weekend when Tony was again going to have Michelle over to his place his mobile rang around noon. 

“Paul? Is everything all right? … Sure, no problem, we don't have an active case, I can go pick her up, it's not a problem.”

Gibbs raised his eyebrows at Tony when he ended the call.

“Paul was using his free weekend to take a business trip, and they moved the departure time. I figured I could use my lunch hour to go pick up Chellie from school, and... maybe Abby wouldn't mind her hanging around for a few hours?”

Gibbs wanted to tell him to just leave work earlier, but the piles of files couldn't really be left hanging, and it would be a dangerous precedence – before he knew, he'd only have people around for half days if he started appearing soft. So he just shrugged, and went back to his own work.

\- - -

A high-pitched laughter drew his eyes to the elevator a few hours later. Tony was exiting it with Michelle excitedly hanging onto his hand.

“Chellie wanted to see where I work,” he explained with a smile and a shrug. “You remember my boss, Agent Gibbs.”

“Hi, Agent Gibbs!” 

“Hi, Michelle,” Gibbs said, offering his hand to the girl to shake, unable to suppress a smile at her eager face. 

“And Kate and Tim.”

“Oi, why aren't we agents?” Kate demanded with a playful frown before shaking the girl's hand. “Don't you believe anything this one tells you about working here.”

“So you _aren't_ the best and smartest agents in the world?” Michelle asked, and her innocent expression was just a little too perfect, with the wide-eyed stare, and Gibbs had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. The girl was Tony's daughter all right, even if not by blood. 

\- - -

Gibbs had no reason, really, to accompany Tony to Abby's lab at the end of the day. The younger man didn't question his presence in the elevator, though, only smiled excitedly, obviously looking forward to his weekend, to seeing his daughter. And Gibbs wasn't there just to enjoy the sight of that smile, or to bask in the feelings. Not at all. 

The music spilling out from the lab wasn't the usual noise, nor was it as loud as normally. Abby and Michelle were dancing to it, looking about the same age – Michelle even had a lab coat of her own.

She noticed the men at the door first, and launched herself into Tony's arms. 

“What's this? Abby, I leave you a girl and I get back a monkey.”

The joy on their faces was suddenly too much, and Gibbs retreated without a word. Ducky would probably offer him a drink without a lecture. Probably.

\- - -

Gibbs's phone rang that evening, and he had time to curse the fact they'd be called to work because Tony would lose his weekend with his girl before he noticed it was Tony himself calling.

“Yeah, Gibbs.”

“I... we're out of electricity. No light, no heat, and... I don't want to take Chellie to a hotel.”

“Come here,” was out of Gibbs's mouth even before Tony got to the part about the hotel. 

The gratitude in the younger man's voice was as clear as the relief, and he prepared to end the call, promising to be there as soon as possible.

“You drive safely,” Gibbs grunted, and hung up.

What the hell was he thinking, inviting the girl into his house? Where were they going to sleep? If Michelle was a boy they could both fit in the guest room bed, but... 

He could always open the locked door that hadn't been opened in years. But the dust alone would be too bad to make that a feasible idea. Maybe a spare mattress on the guest room floor? Surely Michelle would feel better sleeping in the same room as Tony in a strange house.

\- - -

“Chellie, you remember my boss, Gibbs?”

“Why do you always call him by his last name? Doesn't he have a first name?”

“It's Jethro,” Tony said when Gibbs didn't. “But I call him 'Boss', too.”

“Well, I can't call him Boss!”

“No,” Gibbs agreed, shooting her a grin, “Not unless you want me to put you to work tomorrow.”

“What work?”

“Yard work. Cleaning.”

“Okay, Boss!” Chellie said, returning the grin, and Gibbs maybe, just a little, fell in love.

\- - -

At the breakfast table Michelle brought it up again.

“Why do you call him Boss _here_ , Tony? His name is Jethro!”

Tony met his eyes, and Gibbs just smiled slightly and said, “So it is.”

Tony grinned happily, and nodded. “Jethro it is.”

“We should probably head to the store at some point. I don't really have enough food for all of us.”

He realised only after he'd finished talking, that the power cut was probably over, and the other two had most likely intended to leave after breakfast.

However, “And ice cream!” was the only reaction he got.

“And ice cream?” he asked, raising his eyebrow in a way that made Michelle giggle.

“It's Saturday! Saturday is movies and ice cream day!”

Tony just nodded solemnly, a happy smile hovering on his lips, and Gibbs met his gaze with a serious one of his own. He nodded back. “Ice cream it is.” 

“And then yard work!” Michelle reminded him.

\- - -

It was hard, he couldn't deny that. It was hellishly hard to watch a little girl bounding around his back yard, helping him rake leaves, jumping in the pile they'd created, and laughing even when she slipped and fell on the pile and the leaves got everywhere.

It was surprisingly easy too, easy to smile when she laughed, easy to meet Tony's eyes and share the amusement, the joy of the moment. 

They finished everything Gibbs had planned to do over the weekend, and rewarded themselves with ice cream and a movie. Gibbs stayed for the ice cream, but left the father and daughter to share their “real grown-up movie” and retreated into the basement. 

He wasn't escaping, not really. Not even the memories, because he couldn't afford to let them come yet. Couldn't afford to break down while the two were upstairs. 

And he didn't want to miss this weekend, getting to bask in the joy of seeing Tony being a dad. Because that's what he was, so very clearly, and he was happy for the younger man that he had gotten his girl back.

He worked on the boat, in an almost distracted manner. It wasn't mechanical or automatic – it wasn't the kind of work one could afford to ever not think about – but it wasn't an escape either. Still, he got so in the zone that it was a surprise when Tony walked down the stairs.

“Everything okay?” he asked, frowning.

“Yeah, Chellie's asleep.”

Gibbs glanced at the clock. It was well past ten already.

“Lost the track of time,” he said, apology sort of implied, even though he hadn't really signed up to entertain his surprise house guests, but he felt vaguely sorry to have missed saying good night to the girl.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked. “I mean... it can't be easy to... I'm sorry if we just remind you of everything...”

“No.” 

“No, you're not okay, or no, it's not easy, or no, don't say sorry?”

“Don't be sorry. I've... Michelle's okay.”

“She told you to call her Chellie.”

“I'm trying.” He had held on to the full name to keep his distance, he knew that very well. He wasn't ready to let another child get so close, because she wasn't a victim, or family of a victim, she was someone who would be around, and Gibbs wasn't... 

He found it easier to talk to kids, to be with them, than with most adults, because kids were honest, transparent, you always saw pretty early on what you were going to get. Kids didn't know how to pretend, not for long.

“Well, I just came to say good night, and... thanks. Today was...”

“Good. Today was good,” Gibbs finished for him, and Tony smiled, wide and happy, and Gibbs almost smiled back.

Tony was also transparent in some ways, his wish to belong clear, and the things he'd let out about his father over the years, and the early death of his mother, went a long way to explain why. But he was also – probably largely due to the same reasons – really, really good at hiding his weak spots, using humor to deflect attention from them.

But he was honest with his kid, open, softer and stronger both at the same time, and Gibbs recognized that, and it made him admire the young man even more. 

'Admire' probably wasn't the word, or at least the only word, that applied. 

“Good night,” he said, letting one part of his mouth to raise up in a smile, and Tony smiled back, although it soon grew into a grin.

“Sunday is drive in day.”

\- - -

“You don't have to come with us, Boss, but...”

“Why do you still call him that, Tony? We're not working today.”

“Jethro,” Tony said, and grinned.

Jethro bought the popcorn.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a brief mention of a murder/suicide case.

The house was empty without the two. And Tony called him 'Gibbs' and 'Boss' at work, all week, even when they were alone. It was nothing Gibbs hadn't expected, but it still rankled. He'd had the private Tony for all of a weekend, so it was almost painful to see the masks go back up.

Tony had changed, even at work, after Chellie had returned into his life. Matured, and calmed down. But he was still Tony, so he still joked, and pranked, and flirted, even if it was more low key. He was still very careful about what he showed to anyone and, at work, it included Gibbs.

He was still first to deflect Gibbs's anger away from the other team members, and other innocent – or not so innocent – targets, even if that was by pissing him off on his own, or distracting him with coffee, or a new clue, or a new theory. But it was very much his Senior Agent who did that, not his... friend. 

The case didn't help anyone's mood that week. Kidnappings were always a race against the clock, and they all worked long days to get to the missing civilian husband of a navy wife on time. At least this time there were no children involved. 

They caught the bastards on Thursday, and Tony and Gibbs stayed in late to finish the reports and other paperwork.

Tony looked tired, and it was a long time from their hurried dinner. 

“Come on,” Gibbs said when they were finishing. “I've got a few steaks marinading in the fridge.”

Tony's look of gratitude was enough to justify the completely-with-ulterior-motives decision to take them out of the freezer the other day, before the shit hit the fan in their investigation.

“When did you have time to do that?”

“Let's just say they are well marinated,” Gibbs replied with a smile, and Tony smiled back, obviously realizing they were now off duty, despite still standing in the bullpen collecting their coats.

He proved it by saying, “Lead the way, Jethro.”

\- - -

It was a nice meal, and Gibbs enjoyed having company again. He almost wished it was Friday, so he could ask the other man to stay. It would be unpractical during the week, though, so he let Tony go home as soon as he was finished eating.

He'd just have to think of another ~~excuse~~ reason to get him to come over on Friday.

\- - -

It turned out easier than he'd expected, because they got another early morning call just a few hours after Tony had gotten home to sleep on Thursday night, and it was rough. It would have been rough even with a full night's sleep.

At least it was a clear case, open and shut, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with the horror of a man killing his own family. There was no doubt about his guilt, and no arrests to be made as he had turned his gun on himself last, but they still needed to go through the evidence, perform the autopsies, fill in the reports. 

Everyone was subdued, and Tony made no complaint when Gibbs lead him to his own car and drove him over to his house as they left that Friday, just sat silently in the car, then on his sofa, gratefully accepting the bottle of beer Gibbs offered him wordlessly.

“I'll never understand it,” Tony said, somewhere between the fourth and fifth bottle.

“Pray you never do,” Gibbs merely said, and got a solemn nod in reply.

“Come on,” he said after they'd finished their beers. “You know where the guest room is.”

\- - -

Gibbs woke up on the Saturday morning in a better mood than he had in any weekend morning for as long as he could remember, and knew it was because of the man asleep in his guest room. He couldn't hear him, or in any way prove his presence, but just the knowledge that he was there, that he wasn't alone in the house, was heady.

Maybe he'd leave after breakfast, maybe he wouldn't even stay for that, but he was there, now, and for now that was enough.

He was in the middle of his own breakfast when Tony made his way into the kitchen in yesterday's clothes.

“Morning,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes like a child, and reaching for the coffee.

“Morning,” Gibbs said, and smiled because Tony couldn't see it. “Toast?”

“Yeah. Thanks. Please.”

They ate in silence, and despite not knowing what was going to happen when Tony woke up properly, he was content.

Tony stayed silent, and maybe it was wishful thinking, but Gibbs rather got the idea he was reluctant to think about what came next, too, to think about going back to his empty apartment.

“Let's go,” Gibbs said, decisively after they'd finished eating.

“Where?”

“The store.” To Tony's questioning face he explained, “I'm out of ice cream.”

The answering grin was bright, and beautiful, and Gibbs basked in its warmth.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave you hanging! 
> 
> One chapter + epilogue to go, or a longer last chapter, we'll see how I divide the material.

Tony went home on Sunday, and somehow they'd agreed on him coming back the next weekend he had Chellie. Soon he was coming back every weekend, whether they were on call or not. He started keeping a change of clothes in the guest room, and one day there was a DVD player in the living room, under a brand new TV. The freezer was always stocked with Chellie's favorite ice cream.

It wasn't rare for Gibbs to wordlessly drive Tony to his place after a hard case, even during the week, and he even sometimes stayed over. 

Soon the definition of a “hard case” became nebulous, and Chellie never complained having to share her “Tony weekends” with Gibbs. Jethro. 

Tony got to calling him Jethro when not at work, and Gibbs liked it perhaps a little too much. It was sometimes hard to not flinch when he went back to being “Gibbs” at work. And conversely he kept fearing Tony would take advantage of his new position in Gibbs's life, but he never did. He never showed on Monday that just a few days before he had been eating ice cream in Gibbs's kitchen, and gently ribbing him over always eating vanilla.

Thanksgiving was fast approaching, and Gibbs had managed to secure a few days off for his team, in the hopes of actually having a reason to celebrate this year, or at least company.

Tony was down, because Chellie was spending the holiday with her dad's parents, and Gibbs understood him. Thanksgiving was about families, and they all had so precious little of that.

He didn't want to assume Tony would spend the day with him, but he couldn't quite make himself approach the subject either. So much of how their relationship had progressed had been wordless, feeling almost natural and inevitable, so actually talking about anything concerning whatever they were when not at work was hard.

So in the end he decided to deal with it the way he dealt with anything – faking the confidence he lacked.

“I'm not making an entire turkey just for you,” Gibbs said on Tuesday, when they were making their way back upstairs after a visit to the morgue. “Steaks okay?”

Tony was silent for a long enough moment that Gibbs had time to curse himself for leaving it too late. Of course Tony had other plans, he wouldn't just wait around for Gibbs to get off his ass to...

“As long as I can bring a pie, at least,” Tony said, in the end, as light and matter-of-fact as Gibbs, like it was a foregone conclusion that they would be spending Thursday together, like they were always going to, and Gibbs let his smile show, just for a second.

\- - -

Tony brought three pies. Gibbs visited a deli to get some turkey cuts for sandwiches, and they ate too much and drank too much, way too much, and everything was easy and comfortable.

Tony shared stories from his childhood thanksgivings, laughing even about those with her mother drunk, his countless stepmothers, and it was that more than anything that gave Gibbs the courage – and will – to talk about some of his. Like the year he and Shannon couldn't afford to buy a lot of food, sharing tuna by candle light, and Kelly's third thanksgiving, falling asleep on the table. 

They were slouching on the sofa, heads resting on the back rest, belts unbuckled, when Tony turned his head to look at Gibbs, looking strangely determined. 

“Would you say I was drunk?”

“Why?”

“Would you?”

“Not a traffic cop.”

“No, I mean... drunk enough? To get away with something?”

“How serious?”

“On the scale from gluing Probie's fingers to his keyboard to messing with your coffee?”

“Nothing is drunk enough for that. What are you plotting?”

“This,” Tony said, and then he leaned closer until their faces were almost touching, and then... made them touch. 

Made their lips touch. In a kiss. It was a careful sort of kiss, a question, a query, and for a second Gibbs wondered if he'd been literal, if this was a prank, but no, Tony would never do that, he wasn't cruel, he was... pulling away. He was pulling back and looking hesitant, and not a little disappointed. 

“Boss, I...”

Gibbs finally managed to rouse himself to action, and raised his hand to cup Tony's head, pulling him back to him. 

“If we're doing this, then it's definitely 'Jethro'.”


	8. Epilogue: Fragments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long! I realised I had to write some more content... and then RL happened with a vengeance.
> 
> In the end I decided to just combine everything I had to one giant tying-all-the-loose-ends chapter. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking around for this story! Every comment and kudos means so very much, you guys have no idea. And it definitely inspires me to keep writing.

It was funny how little actually changed with introducing sex into the relationship. Tony had already spent much of his free time at the house, but now his clothes migrated from the guest room into the master bedroom, and Tony himself into the master bed.

They did not graduate to sex that Thanksgiving, though, they were both too drunk for more than a little kissing (okay, a lot of kissing) and groping. They did sleep together in an actual bed though, and exchanged hungover morning kisses before sitting down for an actual conversation about what they were doing.

So much of their relationship had been wordless, implied, but they couldn't do that with this, not with a kid in the mix. 

“I'm the marrying kind,” Jethro reminded Tony when the younger man babbled to cover his insecurity about permanence and being good enough.

“I don't need a ring, I just...”

“I know. Me too. Move in.”

“What about...”

“We can redecorate the guest bedroom in pink if she wants to.”

“Purple, more like, but Jethro... Really? That easy?”

“When was the last time she was at your apartment? You know the kid means the world to me too.”

“Oh, I see. You just want my daughter.”

“Yeah, that's it exactly,” Jethro said dryly, and pulled Tony for a deep kiss that was enough to silence even his self-doubts – for an hour or two.

Of course, being mature and talking about stuff meant they needed to talk with Paul too. After all, they were introducing another parental figure into his daughter’s life.

They invited Paul and Chellie over on a free Sunday for a lunch. 

“So it's official? Chellie doesn't stop talking about how much she enjoys her weekends with Tony and Jethro, so I kinda thought this is where it was heading.”

“I hope you don't feel that...”

“Don't worry, Tone – she is your daughter. I am not going to take her away from you ever again. If I – when I – meet someone else, we'll make it work. I know you wouldn't introduce someone short term to her, I'm not worried. She likes her Jethro. I want to like him too. So thank you for inviting me over, too. We should do it again.”

“Totally.” Tony would have agreed to a picnic in the snow with Paul's snooty mother at that moment, and his smile probably said as much.

“That backyard looks nice for a barbeque,” Paul suggested instead. “I hear Chellie's been keeping it in order.”

“We're going to paint the fence come spring!” his daughter declared, beaming.

“Have to choose a paint for your room too,” Jethro told her, and she made a sound Tony refused to identify as a squeal.

\- - -

Abby didn't usually bother knocking on Gibbs's door, but her hands were busy holding a tray of Christmas cookies. She was pretty sure Gibbs was home, and alone, but if he just happened to have his new squeeze around... (No man looked that content during the quiet moments unless he was getting some – especially not Gibbs.)

She thought she was prepared for anything. But she wasn't prepared for the sight of Tony's daughter opening the door in paint splotched t-shirt big enough to belong to a grown man. 

“Abby!”

“Michie!”

“I didn't know you were coming!”

“I didn't know I was coming either, but I was in the neighborhood...”

“So you decided to snoop?” asked Gibbs, appearing behind the girl.

“Gibbs! These are not my snooping clothes!

“Hardly painting clothes either,” Tony said, also appearing behind the two.

He was wearing a worn t-shirt and the tightest pair of jeans Abby had ever seen on him. Both were also dotted in purple paint.

Purple. What the hell was getting painted bright purple in Gibbs's house?

“Are the cookies for us?” Michelle asked, eying them hungrily.

“I suppose – although I was expecting only Gibbs so there aren't that many.”

“But this is my weekend!”

“Your... weekend?”

“Every time they are not on call is my weekend!”

“Oh my God.”

“I think you better come in.”

“And help us paint my room?”

“OH MY GOD!”

\- - -

Ducky made his way down the stairs, expecting – quite correctly – to find the master of the house there. The gray sweatshirt was familiar, the wood-working tools expected, and even the tumbler was an all too familiar sight, expect... the liquid in it wasn't quite what he was used to seeing.

It was white, but Ducky did not think there was vodka in it to make it a White Russian.

“Ducky!”

It was rare that he could sneak up on Jethro but he seemed to have been able to achieve this tonight.

“Is that... milk, Jethro?” he asked, unable to let the strange sight go, and was rewarded with an even stranger one. Jethro laughed.

“You'd think I'd know better than to try to out-reason a kid.”

“And why would I think that, Jethro?”

Jethro's all too serious expression turned ever so slightly chagrined, but before he could talk his way out of his careless choice of words, they heard the tell-tale sound of his front door opening, and someone walking into his kitchen, then slamming something on the table there before shouting.

“You done moping in the basement? I picked up our favorite pretending-we're-not-missing-our-girl dish.”

Jethro kept meeting Ducky's eyes, not closing them to escape his no doubt inquiring expression.

“Are you alright?” The footsteps were coming closer, and took the first steps down the stairs. “Jethr...oh,” Tony's voice trailed off as he took in the man standing next to his... lover? Co-parent?

“I think,” Ducky said, “that Jethro and I are overdue for a little talk.”

\- - -

Gibbs's phone going off in the bullpen got Kate and McGee to stop what they were doing and perk up to listen what they expected to be a new case. Gibbs's worried expression made them reach for their guns, and then he said: “Chellie, slow down, honey. Which hospital are you at? Okay, stay right there, I will come pick you up. Tony's in court for a few more hours but I will be there as soon as I can. Okay. Do what the nurses tell you, okay? I'll be there before you know. You're doing great.”

McGee was blinking. Kate was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open. Since when was _Gibbs_ on Tony's kid's emergency list?

“I'll go pick up Michelle,” Gibbs explained, grabbing his coat and wallet. “Her father is in a hospital with acute appendicitis. If Tony comes back before us, let him know she's fine.”

That was more instruction than they usually got when Gibbs stormed off somewhere.

“ _Chellie_?” Kate repeated. McGee just shook his head slowly.

“Well, he has always liked kids,” he said, hesitantly, then shrugged and turned back to his computer.  
Kate stared at Tony's desk and the photo of Michelle for a minute before doing the same.

\- - -

Tony obviously knew what was waiting for him in the bullpen, because he almost ran out of the elevator. He slowed up to a walk, and mustered up a smile when he saw his daughter. 

(Screw the legalities, Kate thought, that little girl was his daughter regardless of blood and a piece of paper declaring it.)

“Have I been replaced? Again?” Tony said lightly, and Michelle got up from where she'd been sitting by Tony's desk for the past hour.

“What can I say,” Kate said, shrugging. “She's a lot prettier than you.”

“Tony is so pretty,” Michelle defended as Tony picked her up for a hug like she was much younger. “Besides, what do looks have to do with being a good investigator?”

Tony laughed, but Kate forgave him instantly because it was bound to be mostly relief from actually having his girl in his arms after must have been a scary experience for her.

“Out-feministed by a school kid, Caitlin, that's not good.”

“No, it's very good,” Kate corrected, and smiled. “Her parents must be doing something right.”

She'd give him this. Tony was – against all her expectations – a pretty good dad. 

And apparently he wasn't doing it alone.

“Are you guys ready to go?” Tony asked, looking at Gibbs, who was already packing his stuff.

“Let's go home,” their boss said. 

Tony had let Michelle down, but she was still holding onto his hand. At nine, she was probably mostly getting too old to do that, but after a day like she'd had, she probably needed the reassurance. 

She reached for Gibbs with her free hand, and without hesitation, her hand was held. So Tony and Gibbs and Michelle walked out of the bullpen, hand in hand. And just when the elevator doors were closing, Kate had time to see them huddling up into a group hug. 

Tony as a family man, how about that. 

_Gibbs_ as a family man might still be a bigger surprise.

\- - -

Even after the last member of the team finally knew for sure, there was no big change, not officially. But gradually the team learnt that if ever they couldn't reach Gibbs, they'd try Tony, and vice versa. Even Abby learnt to knock on Gibbs's door, even as she was over much more often. 

There were cookies and pastries in the bullpen on Monday morning if the men had had a Chellie weekend, because their daughter loved to bake, and even Morrow was known to pop down for a bite. If he noticed the changed address in Tony's personnel file, he never said a word. 

Ducky looked less worried about Gibbs, and the man himself looked less angry, less driven, most of the time. He could still get buried in cases and mysteries, would still snarl and bark and bite, but every other Friday he'd leave work at five o'clock sharp unless someone was in deathly peril. 

And Tony too. Tony always by his side. Not a huge change, really. Not much of a change at all, in that respect.


End file.
